Well Played, Kid, Well Played: Baby Three Is . . .

. . . a boy!  Seriously this time, guys. It's a boy!

Henry Daniel will make his debut on this earth.  We've been waiting for him for over two years now.  :o)  As my mom said, "Uncle Dan is probably laughing so hard right now because he made sure he would have a namesake."  Henry's 20 weeks along, and the doctor should call with the sonogram reading and quad screening results by the end of next week.

Due to my type A personality, nesting, and hearing that having three children ages three and under is one of the hardest situations to cope with, I am preparing meals, distractions for nursing sessions, reading relevant books, blogs, and articles, as well as asking veteran moms for advice. Here's the bare bones plan:

Meal Plans:
Stock the chest freezer with:

• 12 pizza dough balls
• 12 weeks worth of dry pancake mix
• 8 breakfast dishes
• 48 supper dishes

Distractions:

• Quiet books (2 for each older sibling)
• Kinetic sand box (1 for each older sibling)
• Play dough box (1 for each older sibling)
• Art box (1 for each sibling)

Blogs and Articles:

• What I Know About Motherhood Now That I Have 3 Under 3
• Surviving Three Under Three
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Having Three Kids Under Three
• Having Three Kids
• Baby Bunching

Advice:

• E: Baby #3 was the easiest as long as we were at home. My kids were three and under. It worked out perfectly. J and E would play together. I think baby M used a swing a lot more then my other kids . Get a rock and play. It was great for moving the baby from room to room so he could see me and I could still get things done. Going out by myself was hard but we managed with a few meltdowns . Everyone that will see you will make rude comments but I would always just think about how blessed I am. I always stick up our freezer before I deliver with meals that I can just pop into the oven. My biggest issue was that I wanted home made meals for the kids and I didn't have time. Don't do what I failed to do. Mac and cheese is perfectly fine. And don't stress about the piles of laundry or stack of dishes. The most important thing is to show your kids you love them. One last thing, let your kids help you. Let them grab diapers, toys, bottles or whatever for you. They will like to help. Sorry this was so long.
  
• M: I agree with everything [E] said. 3 kids is a lot, I am not going to lie. And people do say stuff, you just have to let it roll off you. A carrier was more necessary for my 3rd than the other 2. Make freezer meals, don't sweat the small stuff, not everything will go perfectly kids are unpredictable. You have got this!!
• A: I thought the transition to three kids went smoother for our family then it did when we went to two kids:) if you're financially able to, I would suggest joining something like the Y. It gave me just enough me time during the week to be refueld and ready to go:) also, we struggled with sleep with our second...so we started training H very early to be a good sleeper...it helped to actually get sleep as opposed to our previous 18 months:) you will role with it better than most!